booksuperpower's review against another edition
3.0
Violent Crimes by Philip Margolin is a 2016 Harper publication. I was provided a copy of this book by the publisher and Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review.
I remember reading “Gone, but Not Forgotten’, way back in the early 1990’s, and was blown away by it. I even managed to talk my husband into reading it, which is no easy feat. So, needless to say, I’ve been a fan of Philip Margolin’s for a very long time.
However, I have not read one of his novels in a while, so I was eager to dive into this latest installment in the Amanda Jaffe series.
When Amanda is approached by Christine Larson, a colleague who works for a prestigious law firm, asking her to take on the case of a paralegal, a war veteran with PTSD, who snapped, and ended up in a bar fight, and is now facing charges, Amanda is happy to help out. But, when Christine is murdered, and her new client becomes the number one suspect, Amanda’s case suddenly becomes much more serious.
Amanda is positive Tom is innocent, and soon discovers that Christine’s law firm is having some financial difficulties and Christine was suspicious about the checks and balances, which, frankly, just didn’t add up. But, when Dan Masterson, another member of the firm, is murdered, a senior partner, no less, the focus turns away from Tom and onto Dan’s son, Brandon. Now Amanda finds herself serving both clients, and peeling back layers of cover-ups, controversy, and conspiracy.
One thing I am noticing about legal thrillers these days, is the lack of a real courtroom presence. No legal wrangling, no judge or jury, or witnesses, which is really sad because some of the best thrillers I’ve ever read were courtroom dramas. Today, with the reality being that lawyers work to make plea bargains to avoid the cost of a court trial, in novels, attorneys will wind up becoming amateur sleuths, instead of delegating the investigation, while they focus on motions and other lawyerly things. So, the one thing I did like about this book, was the courtroom scenes. While they were not overly exiting, they were at least included, so this book can be considered a true legal thriller.
Other than that, I’m afraid this installment in the Jaffe series did not live up to the standards set in previous chapters in this series. It was okay, but for a person like myself, who needs a real challenge, it was a little too bland and predictable, and as much as it pains me to say this, a little boring. Not only that, the coda, which was intended to invoke uneasiness, bombed big time. While the ending highlighted the moral dilemmas any defense attorney has probably faced at one time or another, the outline Amanda presents is so preposterous, I was rolling my eyes and trying not to laugh, which is not the best way for a book to end.
Like I have said on numerous occasions, every author hits a snag once in a while, so maybe this is just one of those occasions and any further releases in this series will be back on track. I certainly hope so!
2.5 rounded to 3
I remember reading “Gone, but Not Forgotten’, way back in the early 1990’s, and was blown away by it. I even managed to talk my husband into reading it, which is no easy feat. So, needless to say, I’ve been a fan of Philip Margolin’s for a very long time.
However, I have not read one of his novels in a while, so I was eager to dive into this latest installment in the Amanda Jaffe series.
When Amanda is approached by Christine Larson, a colleague who works for a prestigious law firm, asking her to take on the case of a paralegal, a war veteran with PTSD, who snapped, and ended up in a bar fight, and is now facing charges, Amanda is happy to help out. But, when Christine is murdered, and her new client becomes the number one suspect, Amanda’s case suddenly becomes much more serious.
Amanda is positive Tom is innocent, and soon discovers that Christine’s law firm is having some financial difficulties and Christine was suspicious about the checks and balances, which, frankly, just didn’t add up. But, when Dan Masterson, another member of the firm, is murdered, a senior partner, no less, the focus turns away from Tom and onto Dan’s son, Brandon. Now Amanda finds herself serving both clients, and peeling back layers of cover-ups, controversy, and conspiracy.
One thing I am noticing about legal thrillers these days, is the lack of a real courtroom presence. No legal wrangling, no judge or jury, or witnesses, which is really sad because some of the best thrillers I’ve ever read were courtroom dramas. Today, with the reality being that lawyers work to make plea bargains to avoid the cost of a court trial, in novels, attorneys will wind up becoming amateur sleuths, instead of delegating the investigation, while they focus on motions and other lawyerly things. So, the one thing I did like about this book, was the courtroom scenes. While they were not overly exiting, they were at least included, so this book can be considered a true legal thriller.
Other than that, I’m afraid this installment in the Jaffe series did not live up to the standards set in previous chapters in this series. It was okay, but for a person like myself, who needs a real challenge, it was a little too bland and predictable, and as much as it pains me to say this, a little boring. Not only that, the coda, which was intended to invoke uneasiness, bombed big time. While the ending highlighted the moral dilemmas any defense attorney has probably faced at one time or another, the outline Amanda presents is so preposterous, I was rolling my eyes and trying not to laugh, which is not the best way for a book to end.
Like I have said on numerous occasions, every author hits a snag once in a while, so maybe this is just one of those occasions and any further releases in this series will be back on track. I certainly hope so!
2.5 rounded to 3
davidpaige's review against another edition
4.0
I'm starting to like the Amanda Jaffe series. I liked this book, and want to read a few more. I have noticed some parallels, though, with Barbara Holloway. Both are Death Qualified, unmarried lawyers practicing in Oregon, with a widowed, retired lawyer father who is a good cook.
canada_matt's review against another edition
4.0
In another of his legal thrillers, Margolin places Amanda Jaffe at the centre of a number of high-intensity events. After a bar fight goes wrong, Tom Beatty comes to Jaffe for assistance in getting the charges dropped. Beatty returns to work as a paralegal and ends up embroiled in a heated argument with a colleague, Christine Larson. After Larson's body is found in Beatty's home, he's taken into custody and Jaffe's is retained once more. At a hearing, a legal technicality prevents a significant amount of evidence from being allowed and Beatty is released on conditional bail. Dale Masterson, senior partner in the firm that employed both Larson and Beatty is in cahoots with his fellow partner, Mark Hamilton, on a project Larson discovered before her death, one about which Beatty was also aware. Masterson is found dead in his home and Brendan Masterson, the disgruntled son, is seen fleeing the scene. Much evidence points towards Brendan and he does not deny killing his father. Jaffe is retained to Masterson at trial and seeks to get to the root of the slaying. Jaffe soon discovers that the murder has very close similarities to that of Larson, leaving her unconvinced that her new client is responsible. With Beatty nowhere to be found, his degree of guilt rises exponentially and Jaffe must find him to determine how all these murders tie together. Facing the need to put on the defence of a lifetime, Jaffe takes a leap of faith in hopes that she can save both her clients from death row. Margolin weaves a complex, yet highly entertaining, story into a compact novel and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat until the final sentence, literally.
I have often enjoyed the work that Margolin creates, as it is a wonderful mix of legal drama and nuanced character development. He gets to the root of the story and captures the writer's attention while not getting too bogged down in legal minutiae. I was not sure where things were going, with Beatty's initial charges under the Larson murder, but once things began developing, they fell nicely into place and created a mystery layered atop a wonderful legal thriller. While it has been a while since last I read any Amanda Jaffe, she is a refreshing character and one the reader will enjoy for a long time to come.
Kudos, Mr. Margolin for another great story. I enjoy how you can cram so much and keep things moving so effectively.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
I have often enjoyed the work that Margolin creates, as it is a wonderful mix of legal drama and nuanced character development. He gets to the root of the story and captures the writer's attention while not getting too bogged down in legal minutiae. I was not sure where things were going, with Beatty's initial charges under the Larson murder, but once things began developing, they fell nicely into place and created a mystery layered atop a wonderful legal thriller. While it has been a while since last I read any Amanda Jaffe, she is a refreshing character and one the reader will enjoy for a long time to come.
Kudos, Mr. Margolin for another great story. I enjoy how you can cram so much and keep things moving so effectively.
Like/hate the review? An ever-growing collection of others appears at:
http://pecheyponderings.wordpress.com/
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